Pats’ Devin McCourty adapts to position changes

Credit: Matthew West

OBSTACLE COURSE: Defensive back Devon McCourty runs through a drill during yesterday’s Patriots practice at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro.

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FOXBORO — Devin McCourty isn’t one for expectations. He didn’t sit down last summer and map out his entire season, but he laughed at that possibility yesterday.

There’s no way he could have anticipated how things would unfold in 2012.

McCourty made his first switch to safety late last season in a handful of cameos during nickel packages, but he still was more of a cornerback. He opened this season at corner, and the plan was for him to stay there, but things happened during the first couple of months that forced another positional change. And then another change. And, when the Patriots play their first playoff game Jan. 13, he’ll likely have another change.

“I don’t really expect much,” McCourty said. “I just try to come in and work hard and see where that gets me. But no, not to play two positions and do different things, I didn’t think about that ever coming in. It has worked out, and it’s helped the team, so I don’t have any problem with it.”

McCourty started the first six games at cornerback before safeties Steve Gregory and Patrick Chung suffered injuries and Tavon Wilson surrendered a game-deciding touchdown on a deep ball against the Seahawks.

McCourty then played eight games at safety. It started out of necessity, but McCourty really grew into the role, intercepting three passes in a span of six games. He had more command of the middle of the field and learned how to read the quarterback and put himself in position to make plays on the ball.

Rather than handcuffing himself to that play’s specific assignment, McCourty became comfortable enough to float over the top before seeing his angle and hitting it. He also figured out how far he could drift before using his speed to recover for a ball thrown in his direction. McCourty admitted earlier that he might have gotten caught at the wrong depth, but that is something he has figured out with a little more experience.

“I think different skill sets helped me out,” McCourty said. “With my speed, being able to read the quarterback and go and not be locked to one side of the field, having free range to roam around, and run around and kind of help everybody on the field, it’s enabled me to make a couple more plays I think.”

McCourty’s noticeable progress occurred at the same time the Patriots acquired cornerback Aqib Talib and felt more comfortable with rookie cornerback Alfonzo Dennard. Yet, as the defensive backs jelled together while fitting into their roles, which included Gregory as the other starting safety and Kyle Arrington as the slot corner, Talib and Dennard went down with injuries.

That forced McCourty back to left corner for two games, and he admitted the transition was tougher than the move to safety.

“Corner is so much (about) technique,” McCourty said. “It’s so much getting into a rhythm, start doing your techniques every day, and you get better that way throughout the season, just repping those techniques. When you don’t do it for a while, it’s not as easy to go back.”

The belief is Talib and Dennard will be back for the playoffs, so McCourty can get another run at safety. It will stabilize the third level of the defense and allow McCourty to keep growing into a position that has been well-suited for him.

To think, the tangible growth has truly only happened during a half-season of work, but McCourty noted the key through all of the fluctuations has been to keep a clear head and just let it all happen in front of him. That’s a similar approach to physically playing safety, too.

“I guess you kind of have an open mind about it, be willing to switch mentalities, just go and not worrying about being rusty or not getting many reps,” McCourty said. “It’s just telling yourself, ‘I’ll just go out there and play.’ I don’t worry about anything that’s happened throughout the week, what you didn’t get, what you did get, and just go out and play.”